Right Place Right Time (4 page)

Jesus has the first and the Last word in all your situations!

Aleph
and
tav
are the first and last letters in the Hebrew alphabet, just like A and Z in the English alphabet. In the Greek, they are alpha and omega. In Revelation 22:13, Jesus says,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
So
aleph
and
tav
together also refers to Jesus! He is the Aleph and the Tav or Aleph-Tav (
)!

What all this means is this: Jesus has the first and the last word in all your situations! Your problem doesn’t have the final say. That crisis doesn’t have the last word. Your doctor doesn’t have the final word. Jesus the Aleph-Tav has the first and last say! And He will make all things beautiful in His time by putting you in the right place at the right time. He is the one who brings the right places and timings together in your life, and He has placed His signature —
— in Ecclesiastes 9:11 to assure you of that!

Do The One Thing Needful — Sit At His Feet

My friend, you have a choice. You can live life watching out for yourself, saying, “I’d better position myself carefully… I’d better make sure I get the promotion… I’d better make sure no one takes advantage of me…” In other words, you live life full of stress, growing old fast and speeding to the grave!

Or you can live life hearing God’s voice in your everyday life, hearing Him direct you through your inner desires and following His promptings in your heart. The choice is yours.

I have made my choice. There is One who knows everything and every detail, and I rest in Him. My heart is full of Him and I am at peace. When you enjoy His love, He puts you in the right place at the right time. If He needs to direct me to do something, He will speak to me. The more I understand this, the
more
I hear His voice and the more
clearly
I hear His voice.

Let me illustrate this with the story of two sisters, Mary and Martha. In Luke 10:38–42, we see that Jesus came to the house of these two sisters. The Bible tells us that Martha was busy serving while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to His words. I believe that she was also admiring His beauty and worshipping Him. Then, Martha got upset because her sister wasn’t helping her with the work. So she went to Jesus to complain, saying,
“Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
But instead of agreeing with Martha, Jesus defended Mary. He said,
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

So Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to commune with Him, and just enjoy His love and admire His beauty, while Martha was busy and concerned about other things. Now, I am going to show you how Mary’s sitting at Jesus’ feet caused her to do the right thing at the right time.

Just sit at Jesus’ feet and He will cause you to be in the right place at the right time.

Let’s fast-forward the story: It is about a week before Jesus was to die on the cross and He came to the two sisters’ house again. (John 12:1–8) This time, Mary brought very costly oil to anoint Jesus’ feet in the presence of her brother Lazarus and her sister Martha. Judas complained about this, saying that it was a waste of good oil. But Jesus defended Mary again, saying,
“Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.”
(John 12:7) No wonder Jesus also said,
“Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
(Mark 14:9)

Then, on the morning that Jesus rose from the dead, some women came to the tomb bringing spices to anoint His dead body. But they arrived too late. He had already risen and was no longer in the tomb. You see, unlike Mary, they were not able to do the right thing at the right time.

But what caused Mary to do the right thing at the right time? It wasn’t that she was smart. She didn’t even know when Jesus would die. It was simply because she had sat at His feet! My friend, learn to do that. Learn to appreciate Jesus. Learn to love Him. Learn to enjoy His love and learn to look at His beauty. Choose the good part like Mary did. Just sit at Jesus’ feet, and He will cause you to be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing!

For many people, that may be too simple. They say that hearing God’s voice and being in the right place at the right time have got to be more complicated than that! Let me tell you that hearing from God is not hard. You don’t have to attend seminars like
The Seven Secrets To Hearing God’s Voice
just to hear His voice. There is a better way — just behold Jesus, look at Him, and be captivated by His beauty and His grace!

Meekness And Majesty

Recently, I was doing what Mary did, spending time with Jesus, when I received another revelation about His beauty. You see, He is the only perfect one who ever walked on earth. He is the only perfect Man. And yet, He said in Luke 22:42,
“… not My will, but Yours, be done.”
My friend, if there was anyone who could have done his own will without making God angry, it was Jesus! He could have done His own thing. He could have followed His own will. And yet, He chose to come to earth to do His Father’s will.

You and I are not perfect. We often want to do our own thing because we are selfish. Man has always wanted to become like God. The only reason Adam wanted to eat the forbidden fruit was to become like God. Man is really nothing trying to make himself something. Jesus, on the other hand, who is really God in the flesh, came to earth and made Himself nothing. He made Himself of no reputation. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. No wonder the Father loves Him! It crushes my pride when I see that. There is no more room for ego and self-inflation when I realise that.

It is the greatest liberty ever known to man to look at Jesus Christ and see His beauty. Jesus often hides His beauty. Not often, but once in a while, you see flashes of His beauty. You see it, for instance, when He calmed the storm. There He was in the boat tossed about by the winds and waves. He stood up, commanded the storm to be still and nature obeyed Him. Then, God veiled His Son’s beauty and majesty again.

When Jesus heals people, He doesn’t show off. He heals them and hides His majesty again. The devil likes to show off. Man likes to show off. But Jesus doesn’t show off. That is why I am in love with Him! How can I not love His beauty? Of all men, He is the only one who can choose where He is to be born and how He is to be born. And yet, the King of kings chose to be born in a smelly manger!

David — Forgotten By Men, Found By God

The anointing of David is another beautiful story illustrating how just enjoying the presence and love of the Lord will cause everything in your life to fall into place. In 1 Samuel 16, when the prophet Samuel came to the house of Jesse, David’s father, to anoint a new king for Israel, all seven of David’s brothers lined up before the prophet. Each one thought that he would be anointed king, but none of them were. It was David whom the Lord had already chosen. So when David was finally summoned into the house, Samuel anointed him as future king of Israel.

Now, where was David? He was out in the fields taking care of the family’s sheep. Why wasn’t he included? Probably because he was the neglected son. Just like David, you may be the neglected one in your family because you are not smart or good looking. But don’t worry because God does not see as man sees. Man looks at outward appearances, but God looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) You see, David was a man after God’s heart. (Acts 13:22) This means that he loved the Lord and spent time sitting at His feet. And because he had a heart for God, God chose him as the next king.

Even after Samuel had anointed David, do you know what David did? He went back to tending the sheep! You know, his family’s rejection didn’t break him. He was content to be in the fields. He was happy to let his brothers entertain the prophet. David’s promotion didn’t make him proud. He was still a humble little shepherd boy after God’s heart.

Eventually, the call came. King Saul was oppressed by an evil spirit and only David had the anointing to play the harp so that the evil spirit would leave the king. (1 Samuel 16:14–23) So David served the king. After he had completed his assignment, David went back to the fields again! He was not a man seeking after wealth and power. What a humble man!

Again, the call came. This time, it was to go to the battlefield to deliver food to his brothers. While he was there, he knocked down Goliath and became a hero. He killed and decapitated a more-than-nine-feet-tall terrorist! David stood before the king again, but the king was so blind that he didn’t recognise David. He didn’t realise that it was the same boy who had played the harp for him. But David wasn’t insulted, not even when the king asked him, “Who are you?” For he replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse.” (1 Samuel 17:58) After having destroyed Israel’s number one enemy, this was a very humble answer.

Don’t worry about position or power, just be absorbed with the person of Jesus.

Why was David like that? Why was he humble? Well, for a start, David didn’t need people to flatter him or make him feel good. His happiness and satisfaction didn’t depend on people. He didn’t need to hang around VIPs to prop up his ego. Instead, he found satisfaction, security and joy in worshipping the Lord. “As long the Lord is with me, I’m happy,” he would have said. His focus was on the Lord.

You can learn something from David. Don’t worry about position, power, prestige or promotion, just be absorbed with the person of Jesus. He is the King of kings. Combine all the best attributes of the best men in the world into one man and he still won’t come close to the beauty of Jesus! Everyone else pales in comparison to Jesus the perfect Man!

So do what David did — be absorbed in the Lord. Just focus on Him and enjoy His love, and everything else will fall into place. He will position you to be in the right place at the right time. And even if everyone has forgotten you, He hasn’t and He won’t. The Good Shepherd will find you from among the sheep and anoint you king. Don’t you just love Him!

chapter
4

God Creates Right Happenings

chapter 4

God Creates Right Happenings

Ask God For Success And Trust Him

I
sn’t it good to know that God works behind the scenes to put you in the right place at the right time? And He does it simply by putting desires in your heart to go somewhere or do something, so that you end up being blessed.

When these “right happenings” occur, it usually has to do with God connecting you with people more than God connecting you with money or products. We would all love to be connected with money. We would all want to be the one who wins the lucky draw. We would all want to be the one who wins the million dollars! But that is usually not God’s way. The blessings He brings into your life are usually people. Man idolises inanimate objects like money, but God has more of a long-term interest in your success than you do! He has your best interests at heart. He wants to connect you with real and lasting success, not just a one-time lottery win.